{"id":718779,"date":"2026-06-06T10:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718779\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T10:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:24:11","slug":"super-rugby-finals-2026-chiefs-vs-queensland-reds-match-report-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718779\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Rugby finals 2026: Chiefs vs Queensland Reds match report, video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Les Kiss<\/a> can start plotting his Wallabies<\/a> tenure after the Chiefs<\/a> ended Australia\u2019s Super Rugby<\/a> title hopes in rainy Hamilton on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Damian McKenzie\u2019s second half double gave the Chiefs some breathing room in the 46-24 win over the Queensland Reds<\/a> after they led the qualifying final 22-17 at halftime.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Samisoni Taukei’aho of the Chiefs is tackled.\u00a0Phil Walter<\/p>\n

The other Aussie hope, the ACT Brumbies, were belted 66-12 in a record loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington. <\/a><\/p>\n

The Chiefs will host the defending Crusaders in the first semi-final on Friday while the Hurricanes will welcome the \u2018lucky loser\u2019 Blues next Saturday.<\/p>\n

The last time an Australian team failed to make the semis of a fully fledged competition was in 2017.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t include the 2020 and 2021 seasons which were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Reds coach Kiss can now turn his attention to the national team after three seasons with Queensland.<\/p>\n

He will succeed Joe Schmidt at the Wallabies helm after the three Nations Championship home Tests against Ireland, France and Italy in July.<\/p>\n

Kiss\u2019 first game in charge will be the clash with Eddie Jones\u2019 Japan in Osaka on August 8.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Les Kiss.\u00a0Phil Walter<\/p>\n

Winger Kyren Taumoefolau\u00a0scored a first half brace for the Chiefs while hooker Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho and fullback Isaac Hutchinson\u00a0also got on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n

Captain Fraser McReight did his best for the Reds, whose three tries went to fellow forwards Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Aidan Ross and Matt Faessler.<\/p>\n

Salakaia-Loto was yellow carded in the first half for a high shot on Chiefs No.8 Wallace Sititi.<\/p>\n

Sititi was taken to hospital for further assessment but replays showed he was concussed by a head clash with teammate Sione Ahio.<\/a><\/p>\n

All Blacks star Sititi was World Rugby\u2019s breakthrough player of the year for 2025.<\/p>\n

An Australian team hasn\u2019t won the title since Michael Cheika\u2019s NSW Waratahs way back in 2014.<\/p>\n

And Aussie teams are now 0-23 in finals games in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Speaking before the finals, Super Rugby chief executive Jack Mesley admitted he would have liked a more even trans-Tasman ledger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Aussie teams would be disappointed,\u201d Mesley told Rugby Direct.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wallace Sititi of the Chiefs is tackled to the ground.\u00a0Phil Walter<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly in the season, the Brumbies were flying and I think they had a number of games that they probably let slip that really should have had them finishing in the top two. So, yeah, I think the teams will be disappointed. I would have liked to have seen more Aussie teams play through the finals series.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot because I\u2019m an Aussie, but because it\u2019s a very big market here. And for the growth of the competition, we need to be penetrating those teams\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably would have liked to have seen a few of the Aussie sides finish higher, just so that we were penetrating the Aussie market a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE TO COME…<\/p>\n

SUPER RUGBY SEMI-FINALS<\/p>\n

FRIDAY 12 JUNE<\/p>\n

5.05pm AEST – Chiefs (2) vs. Crusaders (3) – FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton<\/p>\n

SATURDAY 13 JUNE<\/p>\n

5.05pm AEST – Hurricanes (1) vs. Blues (4) – Hnry Stadium, Wellington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Les Kiss can start plotting his Wallabies tenure after the Chiefs ended Australia\u2019s Super Rugby title hopes in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-718779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}